Archive for the ‘Antisemitism’ Category

This synagogue shooting has been pissing me off more and more as the days go by.

Now, to top it off our President is talking about executive orders to eliminate birthright citizenship. This he does while pretending to console American Jews. At least Hitler was honest about hating us non-Aryans. Trump pretends to give a shit about people who are not white Christians. But, he stands clearly on the side of white supremacy.

This is only minimally about Trump though. It’s really about the people he enables. What is scariest about Donald Trump’s America is not Donald Trump. It is how President Trump has laid bare the evil undercurrent of American White Supremacism and now it’s corollary antisemitism.

I suppose we should thank Trump for exposing what we really are.

But we also need to remember that the evil people are still a minority. It’s not to late to reinvigorate the power of love!

Every day, we seem to be making America greater, and greater, and greater again.

In just one week we have seen 14 bombs sent to past presidents and other major critics of Donald Trump AND the worst massacre of Jews in the history of the United States, with 11 people dead.

The country in which I live is no longer some shining light on some hill. We keep hearing people say “Make America Great Again” but that is clearly nonsense.

Perhaps one of the good things about Donald Trump being president of the United States is that China and Japan are now talking about healing their long-lasting wounds and working together. That is a good thing for the world. But, that is a bad thing for our country because it means that we will not remain the world’s great economic superpower.

So, we continue down the path of making America worse. I am among those who deeply loves the country in which I live. It absolutely kills me to see the wanton destruction of what was once the greatest democracy on Earth. That is all I have to say except to urge all of us to pray for the murdered Jewish worshipers and to pray that what little remain of our executive branch will have the balls to call the bombs what they are: assassination attempts. Such evil is NEVER even acceptable to ponder.

By the time that we American Jews begin our commemoration of the Shoah, the first round of the 2017 French Presidential election will be over.

That is significant.

At the very moment that we are praying that the horror of the Holocaust will never again befall our people, the moment when we hear from the few remaining survivors of the Nazi death camps, it’s likely that Marine Le Pen – the daughter of an avowed anti-Semite who is the farthest of the French far right – will receive sufficient public support to make it to the final round.

The French racist hyper-Nationalism which puts Ms. Le Pen into this position is not unique.

As we pray that such a horror will never befall our people again, many of us pray that such atrocities will never befall ANYONE again. But, as we do so, our American President is hell bent on beginning to build a wall on our southern border before he reaches his 100th day in office. Our American President sends congratulatory messages to dictators who’s people stupidly grant their leader additional powers. Our American President was elected on the specific promise to turn away refugees just like our country disgracefully did to European refugees who’s return trip sent them right into the National Socialist gas chambers.

But it does not end with Le Pen and Trump.

Throughout Europe there is a rising tide of Antisemitism. Around the world, Antisemitism is weakly disguised as anti-Zionism. America is immersed in Islamophobia. Radical Islam perpetuates the myth that even Muslims have insurmountable divisions that can only be solved through mass murder. The UK would rather leave the European Union than to embrace diversity. And an insane child is leading North Korea toward World War III.

In other words, every year I quote Robert Nozick and every year I come closer to believing his statement that the Holocaust may have demonstrated that our species is indeed unworthy of survival. I can’t bring myself to embrace that, though, and here’s why:

I believe that humans are no more than the latest round of primates. I believe that we are not really all that special. But, I also believe that we have been given, by God or by chance (who knows?), the unique capacity to reason and, as far as we know, a uniquely sophisticated linguistic ability. Together this is a powerful toolkit. With it, we have the ability to change our destiny.

We can use those tools to accelerate our demise as Kim Jong Un is want to do. But we could also delay it by thousands of generations, perhaps even permanently change its course. But to do the latter takes the courage to fight the forces of hatred, misogyny, xenophobia, and fear-mongering through which everything “other” becomes a tool for evil dictatorial “leaders” to take control of our societies. To turn toward good we need only use our reason and our communicative capacity to help enough others to realize that we can, indeed we must, turn away from evil.

And so, as we approach Yom haShoah 2017, my hope is that all of my coreligionists will use our commemoration of the past to rededicate ourselves to the realization that the past can and will repeat itself if we are not each individually a force for change.

In 1938, on the night of November 9th and continuing into the 10th, Sturmtruppen acting on a government order destroyed Jewish shops, Jewish homes, and virtually every synagogue in Germany and Austria. This was Kristallnacht, “the night of broken glass”. It foreshadowed years of increasingly intense efforts to obliterate the Jewish people. On this day, each year, I pray that such a horror forever cease.

In 2016, 76 years to the day later, in the early morning hours of November 9th, Donald Trump because the president-elect of one of the greatest experiments in liberty and individual human value ever to be created, the United States of America. Trump rose to power amid promises to “Make America Great Again” but proposing to do so via strategies of mass deportation and xenophobic religious discrimination.

Perhaps the most significant change in American politics began on the same day as one of Europe’s greatest tragedies. This could be interpreted as a terrifying coincidence but I am optimistic that it is just that, a random coincidence. None the less, since Mr. Trump has been actively promoted by white supremacists, the KKK, and violent Islamophobic xenophobes, I would like to use this “coincidence” to ask you all for one thing. As we move into the uncharted waters with a new captain who has never sailed before, please, please, please, please remember this:

Ours is a nation of immigrants founded explicitly on the principles of liberty and respect for individuals. It took a while to get the kinks out and, yes, the 3/5 clause represents a horrific injustice. But, we Americans are supposed to respect each other’s individual worth regardless of race, religion, gender, gender identity, or any other variable. I hope you will stand with me on this night of broken glass with a continually strengthening devotion to liberty, justice, and the dignity of every single human being. Remember what CAN happen; know that it CAN happen here; and work to make America great for even those of us who aren’t Christian, white, and wealthy. Nip in the bud, any tendency to allow this change to to make worse the lives of others.

Every year on Tisha B’Av I write a little essay here. This year I’m not sure what to say. The Ninth day of Av is traditionally the day that we mourn the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. Since we Reform Jews don’t want the temple cult to come back we have, in recent years, used the day to mourn all of the tragedy of the Jewish people. Every year I think that the Jewish people and the state of Israel are so far better off then we once were. Every year that dream seems to be unfulfilled, or shattered, or at least kicked in the balls a bit. This year is no exception. But, instead of telling you all the reasons why we have a long, long way to go, I will just sum it up with one example. Today an Israeli Olympic athlete beat an Egyptian athlete in a Judo match in Rio. The Egyptian would not only not shake hands but even refused to bow to the Israeli. When an Israeli can’t even get the courtesy of a bow that is mandatory by international Judo rules, let alone a handshake, at an event founded on good sportsmanship between countries, just because of his nationality, the Jewish people have plenty still to mourn. That’s all I have to say.

I will not use this post to debate the veracity or legality of Israeli settlements. I also won’t debate the human rights issues here.

I am not a supporter of the settlement strategy but I admit that I don’t live live there and don’t understand what it is like to do so. When it comes to my unwavering support for Israel and my inalterable support for its legitimacy as a sovereign nation and a Jewish state, I’ll side with Israel versus any enemy.

That said, please don’t comment on this post in the hope of starting a debate. I won’t do that now.
Here is what I feel compelled to say:

There is NEVER a rational, ethical justification for stabbing a sleeping 13 year old child in her bed. Palestinian, Israeli, American, what-the-fuck-ever, no one is justified in doing that. The horrific murder of an Israeli-American child is unjustifiable and immoral. It saddens me deeply.

There is now a debate about just how much Bibi will overreact. Some say that Israel has no legal justification to “punish the family” of the murderer for “a crime they had nothing to do with”.

I disagree.

An 18 year old murderer is likely the product of his family and community. Raise a murderer and you should be held accountable. I’m not saying to punish one person for another’s crime. But, I am saying that Israel would be justified in taking security actions that lessen the likelihood of this happening again.

If that affects the community that bred the murderer, well, that’s not as bad as having someone thrust a knife into you 18 times, or having to look at your child in the aftermath.

Another sad day in the nonexistanr peace process. Another sad day for Israel. Another sad day for Palestinians. Another sad day for humanity.